Crating apparatus for bottles and the like.



L. A. HAWTHORNE.

CRATING APPARATUS FOR BOTTLES AND THE LIKE.

I APPLICATION FILED MAR. 5, I917. 1,243,406.

' Patented Oct. 16,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

INVE/VTUR Br f #1.

' AITOBHEY L. A. HAWTHORNE. CRATING APPARATUS FOR BOTTLES AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR-6,1917.

Patented Oct. 16, 1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- LOUIS A. HAWTHORNE, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TOSTEEL UTILITIES INCORPORATED, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

onA'rme APPARATUS non. BOTTLES. AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 1c, 1917.

Application filed March 6, 1917. Serial No. 152,960.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, LOUIS A. HAWTHORNE,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county ofEssex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Crating Apparatus for Bottles and the like, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to crating or packaging apparatus and hasspecialreference to an apparatus of this kind possessing special utility as ameans for expeditiously and economically crating bottles or similarcontainers in boxes or crates ready for shipment.

To this end the invention has for its ob ject the provision of simple,practical and reliable means for automatically handling bottles or othercontainers in such a manner that the same may be quickly andautomatically transferred from a delivery position into crates or boxesin properly spaced position therein, according to predeterminedrequirements, entirely ready for trucking and shipping.

A further object of the invention is to provide a crating or packagingapparatus which may be utilized to advantage in connection withmachinery for filling and cap ping bottles so that the filled bottlesmay be fed directly from the delivery point of such machines into thepresent apparatus and there handled rapidly and expeditiously, withoutbreakage, in the operations of being separated into packaging units andthen introduced in properly spaced relation into the crates or boxestherefor, and the filled crates or boxes discharged to a deliveryposition for convenient handling.

Another object of the invention is to provide a self-contained cratingor packaging apparatus embodying comparatively few working parts, andwhich parts are organized in a novel manner whereby the weight of thefilled bottles or containers and crates may be utilized as the powerelement for operating the various parts of the apparatus, thus providinga machine which may be operated rather inexpensively, and which will bedurable and reliable in its operation.

With the above and other objects in view which will more readily appearas the nature. of the invention is better understood, the same consistsin the novel construction,

combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described,illustrated and claimed.

The essential features of the invention involved in the novelconstruction and relation of parts are necessarily susceptible ofmodification without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention, but a preferred and practical embodiment thereof is shown inI the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the apparatus, constructed in accordancewith the invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1, looking inthe direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 4c4 of Fig. 1looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing the bottle-receivincradle in position in its relation to the rum-controlling mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the cradle in deliveringposition.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail plan view "showing the latch mechanism forholding the cradle imposition until a sufiicient number of bottles arecollected therein.

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 77of Fig. 6.

Similar references designate corresponding parts throughout the severalfigures of the drawings.

In carrying out the present invention it is proposed to utilize aconveyor belt 1, which may be the delivery element of a bottle-fillingand capping or labeling machine and operating over the sprocket wheel 2journaled as at 3 upon a suitable supporting standard 4. This conveyerbelt 1 preferably constitutes the bottom of a bottle guideway 5, in theframework of the apparatus, as will be observed from Figs. 1 and 3 ofthe drawings, but at a point where the conveyer belt 1 passes around thesprocket wheel 2 the said guideway terminates at a fixed threshold plate6, which bridges the space between the moving conveyer belt and thefloor of a tiltable bottle feeding device or cradle, designatedgenerally by the numeral 7.

This bottle feeding, device 7 primarily consists of an open cradle '01holder of substantially an i. formation, as will be observed from Fig. 2of the drawings. It is provided on its underside with the eccentricallylocated bearing eyes 7 for receiving a pivot rod 8 which is suitablyjournaled in the framework 9 carried by the conveyer stand 4:- One endof the cradle carries a counterweight W which isso located withreference to the eccentric axis 8 of the cradle that it readilyovercomes the weight of the empty cradle to return the same to normalposition after it has been tilted as will hereinafter more fully appear.It also serves as a stop to arrest the on-comnig bottles while thecradle is dumping, being projected into the pathway of the on-comingbottles. As will be seen from Fig. 2, the fixed wall 10 of the framework9 cooperates with the angular cradle 7 to provide, in effect, acontinuation of the guideway 5, and since the cradle member 7 is mountedon the pivot rod 8, it will of course, be apparent that the same mayreadily tilt or rock, when unlocked and under load,:away from the wall10 to discharge the bottles contained therein into the distributingchute designated generally as D, and which is supported by the framework9, previously referred to.

Referring further to the cradle 7, it will be observed that the endthereof opposite the conveyer 1, is provided with a suitable latchdevice designated generally as L for holding the cradle in its normalupright position to receive bottles from the conveyer belt 1. This latchdevice preferably comprises a latch member 11 having a shouldered keeperhead 12 for engaging one edge of the vertical wall of the angular cradle7 and also includes an enlarged bottle abutment plate 13 which isrigidly mounted on a stem 14 slidably fitted in one end of the framework9. For the purpose of yieldably holding the latch member 11 in position,a spring 15 is interposed between the same and the wall of the frameworkin Which the stem 14 is mounted. Thus, it will be observed from Figs. 6and 7 of thedrawings, that when the'latch member 11 engages the outerface of the vertical wall of the cradle, the same is in position toreceive bottles from the conveyer 1, and when the cradle becomes filledwith a predetermined number of bottles the latter will be placedunderthe pressure of the bottlesin the conveyer 1 to thereby exert sufiicientpresure against the plate 13 and the tension of the'spring 15, wherebythe keeper head 12 will be disenaged from the side of the cradle, andthere- 0 bypermit the same to overturn under the weight of thecontainers thereon and dump the latter into the distributing chute D.That is to say, as the conveyer deposits its bottles one by one on thethreshold plate 6, they are impelled forward onto the floor of thecradle, one against the other, only aeaaoe the latch device L therebycompressing'the spring 1 5 and releasing the shouldered keeperhead 12,from engagement with the side wall of the cradle.

The-distributing chute 1) into which the v bottles are dumped when thecradle 7 is tilted, preferably has its bottom formed with a plurality ofspaced bottledirecting guides or channels 16, which are downwardlyinclined and have their delivery ends in relatively close proximity tothe periphery of a movable assembler 17 for collecting the bottles andplacing or assembling them within the shipping box or crate. As will beobserved from Figs. 1 and '2 of the drawings, the chute D is provided atone side with the longitudinally extending guard wall or plate 18, whichterminates short of the floor thereof to provide ample bottle clearanceat the mouth of the channels 16 and has the chief function of preventingthe bottles from sliding out of the chute without being positivelylocated in their proper channels or guides.

Referring now to the movable assembler 17, it will be observed that thesame is preferably in the form of a relatively large 'intermittentlyrotatable drum which is mounted on a horizontal supporting axle A,carried by the support B, and provided at regular desired intervals witha plurality of bottle and crate receiving units each including a batteryof substantially radially dis osed bottle receiving pockets l9, whichare of such shapeas to accommodate the entry of the bottle withoutbinding or permitting the same to extend beyond the periphery of thedrum, and which are also accessible from the periphery ofthe drum. Thesepockets are suitably spaced and arranged in parallel rows correspondingto thenumber of bottles to be accommodated in the shipping case, andaround each set or group of pockets there is provided a substantiallyrectangular crate-receiving socket 20 for receiving an inverted shippingcrate. Therefore, it will be apparent that the drum 17 is provided witha plurality of sets or groups of bottle-receiving pockets which arearranged in spaced relation, and inthe desired number of rows, andthese. pockets'are' surrounded by a crate receivingand hold-"- ingsocket which readily permits of an in 1 verted shipping case beingplaced over-the ing the unit referred to.

1 At the side of the drum bpposite to that 7' at which the cradle 7 islocated, there is entire group of pockets, and the whole formcratereceiving units, and each group con-.

is adapted to feed shipping crates C in single order into the guidehopper 22, at.

the end of the conveyer, in such a manner that the crates will at thedesired moment drop into the socket 20 around the bottles in the groupsof bottle-receiving pockets 19 as will hereinafter more fully appearrOne side of the drum 1'? is provided with a plurality of spaced checklugs 23 which cooperate with a cradle controlled trip device T to permitintermittent rotary movement of the drum to bring the rows of bottlepockets into position before the mouths of the channels 16 of thedistributing chute. As will be observed from Figs..4 and 5 of thedrawings, the check lugs are equidistantly spaced from each other andare also arranged spaced groups as will be seen from Fig. 2. That is tosay, these lugs are preferably arranged in groups on. one side of thedrum, between the bottle and tains as many lugs as there are rows ofpockets in each unit so that at each movement of the drum for apredetermined period, a new row of pockets will be presented before themouths of the channels 16, and then after all of the rows of pockets ofthe particular unit have been filled, the drum will be permitted torotate a greater distance to bring the pockets of the next unitinto'position. These lugs are normally engaged by the roller 24 carriedby one arm 25 of a bell crank lever 26 suitably journaled as at 27 upona fixed part of the framework of the machine, and having its arm 28normally'held against one edge of the guide and abutment shelf 29 bymeans of a spring 30. This shelf is carried by a suitable bracket E, aswill be seen from Figs. 1 and 2. l

It will thus be apparent that in order to permit the movement of thedrum in the direction of the arrow in Figs. 4 and 5 the roller 24 mustbe lifted upwardly and out of the path of the lugs 23, and to effectthis movement of the roller, the arm 28 of the bell crank must betemporarily pushed away from the stop edge of the member 29. Thismovement of the bell crank to withdraw the roller from the path of thelugs is effected through'a trip rod 31, thefree end 32'of which normallyrests on the crown of the arm 28 of the bell crank lever and the otherend of which is pivotally connected as at 33 with the weighted portion Wof the eradle 7.

As will be seen from Fig. 4, when the cradle is. tilted to dump itscontents into the distributing chute this rod is pulled off the crown ofthe arm 28 of the lever onto the guide shelf 29 (Fig. 5) and as theempty cradle returns to its normal position by virtue of thecounter-weight W, the rod is pushed forward, and thereby forces thelever arm 28 in such a direction that the roller arm 28 is pushed awayfrom the stop edge of 29 and the roller 24 is lifted. Hence the i benoted that when the free end 32 of the rod 31 moves forward during thereturn of the cradle to normal position, it passes be yond the crown ofthe arm 28 a sufficient distance so that the same arm will, owing p toits rounded crown and the tension of the spring 30, "again becomepositioned beneath the end of the rod as shown in Fig. 4.

Every time the cradle is dumped, the bottles fall into the distributingchute and slide out of the delivery channels into the waiting rows ofpockets 19 in the drum, which latter remains at rest during thisoperation because the dumping movement of the cradle merely pulls theend 32 of the rod 31 off the top of the arm 28 of the bell crank andonto the table 29, and the bell crank 26 under the tension of the spring30 remains stationary. However, when the empty cradle 7 returns to itsnormal upright posi tion, the rod 31 is moved across the table to tiltthe bell crank andthus pull the stop roller 24 out of the path of thelug, and the drum rotates until the roller comes into engagement withthe next lug, thus bringing set of lugs into position for engagementwith the stop roller 24 consequently brin ing a new set of bottlereceiving pockets into the bottle receiving zone. This operation isrepeated as long as bottles are dumped out of the cradle.

Referring further now to the suitably rotated drum 17, it will, ofcourse, be apparent that when the same is operated by gravity as shownin the present embodiment of the invention, it will be necessary infirst starting up the apparatus, to overweight the drum' on its deliveryside by placing some bottles, a crate or the like, thereln by hand butafter the machine starts to working full capacity, there will always besuflicient weight on the delivery side to offset the weight of thebottles-on the receiving side. That -is to say in the illustrationshown,

there will always be two sets of bottles and two crates on the deliveryside of the drum as against a full or partially full set of pockets onthe other side.

In connection with the delivery of the crates to the drum it may benoted that the crates U do not fit into the rectangular socket 20 aroundthe set of bottle receiving pockets until the same is properlypositioned any before the mouth of the hopper 22. That is to say, therounded periphery P of the drum acts as a cut-off for the hopper and theupper edge of the inverted crate merely rests against the same until thedrum comes into proper position to bring the socket 20 to receive thecrate. After the crate is p:

-mouth of the hopper 22 int'o the curved box guide G provided bythe-guard wall 34:

which is spaced from the periphery of the drum. This guard wall 34;holds the crates in the sockets 20 and over the bottles as the drummoves, and as the same is struck on a radius whose center is somewhatlower than the shaft center of the drum, the boxes orocrates graduallyleave the drum as they reach the bottom of the guideway. It willtherefore be apparent that as the drum revolves the bottles willgently'slide from their pockets into the proper cells of the crate, andthe crate will upon the further rotation of the drum, be delivered atthe mouth of the guideway G on the roller platform E. This rollerplatform, therefore, receives the filled crates in their normal uprightposi-= tion ready for handling and shipping.

Briefly reviewing the operation of the apparatus, it will be observedthat bottles are fed by the conveyer 1 to the cradle 7, over thethreshold plate 6 until the cradle contains a sufficient number ofbottles, in the present case six. Then, the latch device L releases thecradle and permits the same to rock or tilt on its eccentricpivots underthe weight of its load, to thereby dump the bottles into the trough ofthe delivery chute D, whereby they will fall headfirst into thesubstantially wedge shaped inclined" delivery channels 16, from whencethey will pass into the row of waiting pockets 19 in the drum 17 As thecradle tilts forward due to the weight of the bottles therein overcomingthe efi'ect of the counterweight W, the latter will, because of itsflange-like shape and location at the receiving end ofthe cradle act asa stop or cut-0d for bottles being fed to the cradle by the conveyer 1.That is to say, as the counterweight Wis in the nature of a flangelocated at the underside of one end of the cccentrically' mounted cradle7, as will appear from Fig. 4, when the cradle tilts to dump itscontents into the delivery chute D, as shown in Fig. 5, thecounterweight XV will come into position at the end of the thresholdplate 6, and thereby hold the bottles on the threshold plate until thecradle returns to normal position. In this connection, it may be notedthat when the counterweight acts as a wall to stop the feeding ofbottles to the cradle, the bottles penance conveyer, the latter merelycontinuing its movement and permitting the temporarily checked bottlesto slide idly thereon.

When the cradle device tilts or rocks to empty the bottles, the end 32of the rod 31 is pulled off the crown of the lever arm 28, an onto theshelf 29, and when the empty cradle resumes its normal position due tothe counterweight W, the end of the rod 32 will push the bell crank 26,so that the roller 24 will be pulled out of the path of the lug 23 whichhas been in engagement with the roller, thereby permitting the drum torotate a sufiicient distance to bring a new row of pockets into positionbefore the mouths ofithe channels 16in the delivery chute. Of course, ifthe last row of pockets in a group has been filled, the drum will rotatethe necessary distance to bring the first row ofpockets of the next unitinto position, as previously explained.

After the pockets of each unit are filled with bottles,'and the drumrotates to bring the unfilled pockets of the next unit into position,the filled unit comes into a crate receiving position, that is, into aposition where an inverted crate will pass from the hopper 22 into therectangular socket 20 around the set of bottles, as shown in Fig.

2. Then the continued rotation of the drum step by step, will bring theassembled bottles and crates downwardly in the guidewayG and transferthem onto the roller platform R, as previously explained.

From the foregoing, it is thought that 'the many features and advantagesof the placing single crates over thecontainer holding positions of theassembler, and means for causing all of the containers for each crate tobe discharged as a unit in the latter. 3. A crating apparatus includinga combined container and crate assembler havingmeans for carrying thecontainers and crates therefor, and means for feeding containers andcrates to the assembler.

l. A crating apparatus including a combined container and crateassembler having means for receiving the containers, and means forplacing an inverted crate over the container receiving position of theassembler.

5. A crating apparatus including a movable assembler having means forcarrying of said drum for deliverin inverted empty the containers andcrates therefor," and separate means for separately feeding thecontainers and crates to the assembler.

6. A crating apparatus including a rotary assembler having bottle andcrate carrying means and means for feeding the bottles in .groups to theassembler.

ing device arranged at one side thereof, and

a crate feeding device located at the other side thereof.

9. A crating apparatus including a bottle and crate carrying drum havinga plurality of bottle and crate receiving cavities,

a dumping bottle feedin device operating at predetermined interva s, andmeans for feeding crates to the drum.

10. A crating apparatus includin an intermittently rotatable drum, abott e feeding, device synchronized with said drum, and means fordelivering crates to the latter.

11. A bottle crating apparatus including a bottle and crate carryingdevice having a plurality of bottle and crate receiving units therein,and accessible from the periphery thereof, a tiltable cradle arranged atone side of the drum and synchronized there- With to deliver bottlesthereto, and a crate conveyer device arranged at, the other side cratesto the units of the rum.

12. A crating apparatus including anintermittently rotatable bottle andcrate carrying device having a plurality of bottle and crate receivingunits therein, a tiltable cradle arranged at one side of the drum, andmeans controlled by the movement of the cradle for releasing the drum asthe cradle returns to its normal position after dumping bottlestherefrom, and crate delivering means arranged at the other side of saiddevice. p

13. A crating apparatus includin tatable drum having a plurality 0bottle and crate receiving units therein, a tiltable cradle arranged atone side of the drum, means for engaging the drum to normally preventthe same from rotating, means carried by the cradle for operating saidlatter means to release the drum at pjrjdetermined intervals, and meansfor fee g crates to the drum.

4 14. A crating apparatus including a gravle bottle and crate carityactuated rotata plurality ofbottle rying drum having a and cratereceiving units therein, cradle arranged at one side of the drum, a

a ro-' a tiltable trough having guide channels arranged beneath thetiltable cradle and adapted to direct bottles delivered therefrom intothe bottle receiving openings of the units in the drum, means fornormally checking the movement of the drum, a rod carried by thetiltable cradle for tripping said means to permit rotation of the drum,and means for feeding crates to the drum.

15. A crating apparatus including a grav- 75 ity actuated rotatablebottle and crate carrying drum having a plurality of bottle and cratereceiving units therein, a plurality of check lugs' carried by the drum,a device for engaging said studs, a tiltable cradle device arranged atone side of the drum, means carried by'said cradle device for moving themeans which engages said lugs and means for feeding crates to the drum.

16. A crating apparatus including a bottle and crate carrying drumhaving'a plurality of spaced bottle receiving pockets arranged inhorizontal rows, said rows being arranged in spaced groups around theperiphery of the drum, and having a crate receiving socket thereabout, adumping cradle for feeding bottles to the pockets in the drum, and adevice for feeding crates in an inverted position to the socketsurrounding the groups of bottle receiving pockets.

17. A crating apparatus including a bot tle and crate carrying devicehaving a plurality of bottle and ,crate receiving units, each unitcomprising, a plurality of reguwe larly spaced and alined bottlereceiving pockets, surrounded by a crate receiving socket, a dumpingdevice for feeding bottles to the pockets in the drum at predeterminedintervals, and-means for feeding crates to leg the crate receivingsocket of each unit.

18. A crating apparatusincluding a bot{ tle and crate, receivingdrumhaving a plu- 'de channels for a delivery chute having fromthe cradledirecting bottles dumpe device into the bottle receiving units of thedrum, a crate feeding conveyer device arranged at the other side of saiddrum to feed crates in an inverted position to said bottle and cratereceiving unit, a curved guard wall associated with said conveyer apparatus and arranged to provide. a guideway a tiltable 120 A cradlesupported at one side of said drum,

from the side of the drum and arranged 1n spaced relation, said lugsalso arranged in groups'corresponding to the number'of rows of pocketsin each bottle receiving unit of the drum a device for engaging saidlugs to temporarily arrest the movement of the drum, said devicecomprising a bell crank lever having a roller at one end for engagingthe lugs, a stop, a spring engaging the other arm of the lever to holdthe same in normal position and against the said stop element, atiltable cradle arranged at one side of the drum, a rod carried by saidcradle for engaging the arm of said hell crank which is normally heldagainst the stop, and means for feeding crates to the drum.

21. A crating apparatus including a rotatable bottle and crate carryingderdce hav ing a plurality of bottle and crate receiving pocketstherein, atiltable cradle arranged at one side of the drum, a combinedguide and distributing chute for receiving bottles dumped from thecradle and directing the same into the pockets of the bottle receivingunits in the drum, a conveyer device for feeding bottles to the cradle,locking means for temporarily arresting the movement of the rotatabledrum, means carried by the tiltable cradle for intermittently releasingsaid locking means, a device for feeding crates to the drum, and meansfor delivering combined bottles and crates from the 22. A cratingapparatus including a rotatable bottle and crate carrying drum having aplurality of bottle and crate receiving units therein, a tiltable cradlearranged at one side of the drum, a latch device for normally lockingsaid cradle in upright position, a distributing chute arranged betweenthe cradle and the drum, means for A synchronously operating the cradleand drum, and means "for feeding crates to the said units of the drum.

23. A. crating apparatus including a rotatable bottle and cratecarrying. drum havmg a plurality of bottle and crate receivin pocketstherein, a tiltable cradle mounte l at one side of the drum, a conveyerfor feeding bottles to the cradle, a bottle controlled latch device fornormally holding the cradle in position to receive bottles from the conveyer, a distributing chute arranged hetween the cradle and the drum,and

arranged at the other side of the for feeding crates thereto,

24;. i crating appwatus including a re naaaaoe tatable bottle and cratereceiving drum, a tiltable cradle arranged at one side of the drum,means arranged between the cradle and the drum for transferring bottlesthereto, a conveyer for feeding the bottles to the cradle, a bottlecontrolled latch device for normally maintaining the cradle in positionto receive bottles from the conveyer, locking means for temporarilyrestraining the movement of the drum, means carried by the cradle fortripping the locking means to release the drum, and a crate feedingdevice arranged at the other side of said drum.

25. A crating apparatus including a rotatable bottle and crate-carryingdrum having a plurality of bottle and crate-receiving units therein, apivotally mounted cradle for feeding bottles to the drum, bottle feedingmeans for said cradle, and a counterweight carried at one end of saidcradle for return ing the same to normal osition, and adapted toconstitute a stop or bottles being fed to the cradle by said bottlefeeding means when the cradle is in dumping position.

26. A crating apparatus including a rotatable bottle and crate-carryingdrum having a plurality of bottle and crate-receiving units therein, apivotally mounted cradle for feeding bottles to the drum, bottle,feeding means for said cradle, bottle controlled means at one end ofsaid cradle for releasing the same to tilt, and means at the other enthereof for checking the delivery of bpttles from the bottle feedingmeans.

27. A crating apparatus including a rotatable bottle and crate-carryingdrum having a plurality of bottle and crate receiving units therein, apivotally mounted cradle for feeding bottles to the drum, bottle feedingmeans for the cradle, bottle controlled means at one end of said cradlefor releasing conveyer for feedm bottles to said cradle,

a threshold plate interposed between the cradle and the conveyer,bottle-controlled latch means at one end ot said cradle, a v

counterweight at the other end of said cradle and constituting means forholding bottles fed from the conveyer onto the threshold plate when thecradle is in dumping position, and means controlled by the movement ofthe cradle for ment of the drum.

29. A cratingapparatus including a depermitting the movevice having acrate size container receiving the device, to receive the entirecontents of units, and means for placing a crate over the said unit. K10 said unit to receive the fullcontents thereof. In testimony whereofIhereunto affix my 30. A crating apparatus including a designature inthe presence of two witnesses. 5 vice having a plurality of crate sizecon- LOUIS A. HAWTHORNE.

tainer receiving units and means for 130- Witnesses: sitioning'a cratethereabout, and means for VILLARD L. HOAGLAND,

feeding crates to said positioning means of Bow. 0. WURTs.

